With The Combat Boot on the Other Foot
by Marie S Zachary
Summary: After Beck ignores Jade for 15 minutes after she picks on Tori Jade gets an idea from the time she thinks.  She ignores him for a full day.  How will Beck react when the combat boot is on the other foot


Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious.

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><p>It was obvious to Jade that Beck had a lot to learn. He was trying to teach her to be nice to Tori Vega by telling her to go sit on the steps and by ignoring her for awhile. She didn't listen but he still ignored her for awhile and that pissed her off to no end. He had been doing that a lot lately. Now it was time for BECK to learn his lesson. The time to think gave her a great idea. She grinned. She was going to let him see what it was like when the combat boot was on the other foot.<br>The next day Beck woke up after Jade did. He yawned and grinned seeing the woman he loved.

"Morning babe," he said to her  
>She didn't respond back.<p>

"Jade," he said, "I said good morning to you"  
>Again there was no response. Beck being a man was a little slow to figure it out. This was very unJade like.<br>Maybe she didn't hear me, he thought to himself.  
>At breakfast when he asked her to pass the butter and she didn't respond he figured out she was ignoring him.<br>Why is she ignoring me, he thought to himself.  
>As I said Beck is a man and men don't do reason well even though they would like to believe that they do. He was a little slow on the uptake. He just didn't pick up on the fact that Jade was angry with him. When he DID pick up on that fact he didn't understand why. Shhe decided to give him until the end of the day and then she would tell him.<br>He was smart enough to know he was in big trouble with Jade. He just didn't know why. He sent her a text message later that day. There was no response. By now he was starting to get nervous. Whatever he did, it must have been bad. She was never this angry with him… not even when he got mad at her for humilating Tori. Was that the reason why she was acting that way? He didn't know. They had made up from that fight a long time ago so it couldn't be that. But what else could it be? He didn't know. Maybe Cat would know. She had been the only one who could make him see reason. He found Cat.

"Cat," he asked, "Can we talk?"  
>"Sure," Cat said as he pulled her aside.<p>

"It's about Jade," he said, "She's been ignoring me all day. It is seriously driving me crazy"

"Oh you mean like she feels when you ignore her like you did last night for 15 minutes," Cat asked, "after telling her 'okay that's a time out' and 'go sit on the stairs'  
>Beck groaned.<p>

"Or the way you ignore her every time she does something you don't like," Cat continued  
>He had been doing that lately.<p>

"Oh maybe we could add in the time that you got mad at her-"

"I get it," he said

"Beck, you of all people know that Jade is more vunerable then she lets on. You KNOW her past. You KNOW she loves you."

"I KNOW," he said, "and I love her too. I love her so much it hurts. But she doesn't seem to understand that"

"Beck look let me break this down for you," Cat said.  
>Beck nodded.<p>

"PLEASE do," he asked pleadingly

"JADE is your girlfriend"

"I know that," Beck said

"You also know about what she's been through," Cat replied, "and how VERY few people love her unconditionally. I think she feels Willow, myself and you are the only ones that love her unconditionally"

"Okay I'm following you so far," Beck said

"When you 'punish' her you make her feel like your love is conditional. When you ignore her you make her feel like less valuble in your eyes. I get that you love her and you don't always like what she does but she doesn't get that. When you said what you said to her a few days ago knowing what she's been through-"

"She was fighting with Tori," Beck objected, "I couldn't very well ignore that fact"

"In other words TORI was fighting too," Cat replied

"But Jade started it," Beck said, "Besides I apologized before an hour was up and I didn't actually-"

"Okay reality check here," Cat said, "Tori did start the fight"

"Cat I was there and I saw what happened"

Cat rolled her eyes.

"She kissed you on her second day in Hollywood Arts," Cat reminded him

"It was an acting excersize," Beck said, "and if I had known it would have upset Jade so much I never would have done it"

"Jade sees Tori as a threat to her. You being affectionate to Tori and ignoring Jade will drive Jade insane"

"Maybe I shouldn't have said what I said when they were fighting," Beck commented, "But I didn't know what else to do"

"When was the last time you complimented her for being nice to Tori?"

"Um… when was the last time she was nice to Tori," he returned

"BECK! Look the way you're feeling now is how she feels every time you ignore her or get mad at her or act cold towards her. I KNOW that you want her to be nice to Tori but she has been nice to her at times."

"When?"

"She hasn't been as mean as she used to be"

"Look Cat I love Jade but I want her to be more secure in our relationship. I want her to realize that even if I'm not devoting every second to her or if I'm friends with another member of the female-"

"Stop," Cat said, "and think like Jade for a minute."  
>Jade came up and sat down.<p>

"Beck," she said, "How did you feel today when I ignored you?"

"Horrible," Beck said

"Yeah well that's how I feel when you ignore me. Look Beck I know I'm not perfect but the reason… well one of the reasons I love you is that you let me be myself despite my flaws. I don't want conditional love. I get plenty of that from my father. Being nice is hard for me especially after what I've been through. It's hard for me to trust people. When you said what you said and when you acted the way you acted and when you were cold towards me it made me feel like I couldn't trust you. I want need and love you but I cannot tolerate conditional love. It hurts. It feels like I'm suffering from what I went through all over again"

"OH MY GOD," Beck said, "I never realized that"

"I know," Jade replied, "but if you were in my shoes you'd understand. I need love and encouragement and sometimes a little reassurance."  
>"Well I don't want you living your life in fear," he poiinted out seeing an opening for him.<p>

"And I appreciate that," she said, "The issue here is that you have to see this through my eyes. You know what I went through. You know that sometimes I can't be nice. Yes I want to be nice and yes I appreciate you helping me to do so but can't you do that with an insentive?"

"An insentive huh? Okay. How about this? Every time you're nice I'll give you a black rose. After 25 black roses I'll get you the pin you wanted. Fifty black roses means you're a winner. 75 black roses adds up to a date and La Shayas. 100 black roses means that we take a trip to Paris. But every time you're mean you get a white rose. A white rose means you have to earn TWO BLACK ROSES to get the same as a regular black rose. For example if you have 21 back roses and a white rose you'll need 26 black roses to earn the pin"  
>"That," Jade said, "is a GREAT idea. We have a deal"<p> 


End file.
